Zambia currently boasts its best economic performance in 8 years

Zambia, which has been on a rapid economic recovery pace for the past year, has yet again seen its inflation rate fall.

• Zambia's inflation rate fell to 6.5% in June, the lowest level since early 2018.
• The consistent decline in inflation reflects Zambia’s strong economic recovery, with inflation dropping from 11.2% in December 2025 to 6.5% now.
• This recovery is largely driven by a 16% appreciation of the local currency and increased demand and exports of copper.
• Zambia aims to boost copper output to over one million tonnes by 2026 and plans to triple it by 2031, attracting international investment.

The recent inflation decline has taken the country’s economy to a position last witnessed in 2018, 2 years before the Covid-19 pandemic.

As seen on Bloomberg, the Southern African country’s inflation rate fell in June to the lowest level since early 2018, attributed to a marginal deceleration in price increases across multiple sectors.

Statistician-General Sheila Mudenda informed journalists in Lusaka on Thursday that consumer prices recorded a year-on-year dip of 6.5% this month, representing a decrease from the 6.6% reported in May.

On a month-on-month basis, prices advanced by 0.1%.

This sort of economic performance has been consistent in the country, which at the beginning of the year was lauded for its impressive economic upturn.

Economic recovery in Zambia

Zambia, alongside a few other African countries that had in previous years encountered considerable economic challenges, was reported to have begun 2026 with outstanding economic gains.

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At the start of the year, the country’s inflation figure, for the first time in three years, dipped below double digits.

Compared to the last month in 2025, when it boasted an inflation rate of 11.2%, in January 2026, the copper-rich nation’s consumer price index sat at 9.4%, marking the first time since 2023 that the country has reported a single-digit inflation.

Compared to its current rate of 6.5%, this also indicates that the country’s inflation rate in the last six months has dipped by 30.9%.

Zambia’s inflation recovery has been driven by its currency gain, which at some point rose 16% against the U.S. dollar, and the sale of its most valuable resource, copper, which is experiencing higher global demand.

Zambia, alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo, was listed in a report by Visual Capitalist among the world’s top countries for copper reserves.

They both hold Africa’s highest copper reserves.

Zambia was reported to be targeting over one million tonnes of copper output by 2026 and aims to triple production to three million tonnes by 2031, backed by efforts to attract international investment.

Last year, the Southern African country produced a record 890,000 tons of copper.

As seen in a report by the government, “The cumulative volume of refined copper exports for the period January to February 2026 was 155.3 thousand Mt while that of 2025 for the same period was 140.0 thousand Mt, representing a 10.9 percent increase.”

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